The following is a list of stars with resolved images, that is, stars whose images have been resolved beyond a point source.[clarification needed] Aside from the Sun, observed from Earth, stars are exceedingly small in apparent size, requiring the use of special high-resolution equipment and techniques to image. For example, Betelgeuse, the first star other than the Sun to be directly imaged, has an angular diameter of only 50 milliarcseconds (mas).[1]

List

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (December 2017)
List of stars with resolved images
Star Image Diameter Distance
(ly) 		First imager Year Notes
Angular (mas) Geometric (Sun = 1)
Sun 2000000 1 0.0000158 Louis Fizeau and Léon Foucault[2] 1845
Altair
α Aql 		3.2 1.66±0.01 (polar)
2.02±0.01 (equator) 		16.77±0.08 CHARA array – MIRC[3] 2006
Rasalhague
α Oph A 		1.62±0.03 2.39±0.01 (polar)
2.87±0.02 (equator) 		48.6±0.8 CHARA array – MIRC[4] 2006
Alderamin
α Cep 		1.35±0.02 (polar)
1.75±0.03 (equator) 		2.20±0.04 (polar)
2.74±0.04 (equator) 		48.8±0.36 CHARA array – MIRC[4] 2006
Caph
β Cas 		1.70±0.04 3.1±0.1 (polar)
3.8±0.1 (equator) 		54.7±0.3 CHARA array – MIRC[5] 2007
Regulus
α Leo Aa 		1.24±0.02 3.2±0.1 (polar)
4.2±0.1 (equator) 		79.3±0.7 CHARA array – MIRC[5] 2008
Algol
β Per Aa1
0.88±0.05 4.13 93±2 CHARA array – MIRC[6] 2006 stationary object in the animation
β Per Aa2 1.12±0.07 3 orbiting object in the animation
β Per Ab 0.56±0.10 0.9 Observed radius of Algol Ab is an instrumental artifact, caused by bandwidth smearing.
Actual radius is 1.73 ± 0.33 R☉.
Alkaid
η UMa 		0.834±0.060 2.86±0.21 103.9±0.8 CHARA array[7] 2012
Markab
α Peg 		1.052±0.066 4.62±0.29 133±1 CHARA array[7] 2012
Elnath
β Tau 		1.09±0.076 4.82±0.34 134±2 CHARA array[7] 2012
ζ And Aa 2.502±0.008 15.0±0.8 (polar) 189±3 CFHT[8][9] 1996 First direct imaging of starspots on a star outside the Solar System.
R Dor 57±5 370±50 204±9 New Technology Telescope[10] 1993 2nd largest known star by apparent diameter in Earth's sky, after the Sun.
Mira
ο Cet A 		50 up to 700 420 Hubble – FOC[11] 1997[citation needed]
T Lep 5.8
15 for molecular layer 		100 500 Very Large Telescope – VLTI[12]/AMBER[13] 2009[citation needed]
π1 Gru 18.37[citation needed] 694 530 Very Large Telescope – VLTI/PIONIER[14] 2017[citation needed] First directly observed granulation patterns on a star's surface outside the Solar System.
Antares
α Sco A 		41.3±0.1 700 620 Very Large Telescope – VLTI/AMBER[15] 2017[citation needed]
Betelgeuse
α Ori 		50 630 643±146 Hubble – GHRS[1] 1995 First star with a resolved image outside the Solar System.
Sheliak
β Lyr Aa 		0.46 6 960±50 CHARA array – MIRC[16] 2007 Both Aa1 and Aa2 are visible in the animation.
θ1 Ori C 0.2 10.6±1.5 1400 Very Large Telescope – AMBER[17] 2009 In the image, the right inset is θ1 Ori C and the left inset is θ1 Ori F.
θ1 Ori F Very Large Telescope – VLTI/GRAVITY[18] 2016[citation needed]
Almaaz
ε Aur A 		2.27 3.7±0.7 ca. 2000 CHARA array – MIRC[19] 2009 Supergiant with an eclipsing companion surrounded by a massive, opaque debris disk
RW Cephei 2.45 900–1760 11000+4600
−2600–22000+5200
−3300 		CHARA array – MIRC-X and MYSTIC[20] 2022 Hypergiant star currently undergoing a great dimming event
HR 5171 Aa 4.1±0.8 1575±400 11740±1630 Very Large Telescope – VLTI/PIONIER[21] 2014 Eclipsing and potential contact binary yellow hypergiant

See also

References

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  2. ^ "NASA – Sun–Earth Day – Technology Through Time". NASA. 2006. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  3. ^ J.D. Monnier; et al. (2007). "Imaging the Surface of Altair". Science. 317 (5836): 342–5. arXiv:0706.0867. Bibcode:2007Sci...317..342M. doi:10.1126/science.1143205. PMID 17540860. S2CID 4615273.
  4. ^ a b M. Zhao; et al. (2009). "Imaging And Modeling Rapidly Rotating Stars: Alpha Cephei And Alpha Ophiuchi". The Astrophysical Journal. 701 (1): 209–224. arXiv:0906.2241. Bibcode:2009ApJ...701..209Z. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/701/1/209. S2CID 554145.
  5. ^ a b X. Che; et al. (2011). "Colder And Hotter: Interferometric Imaging Of Beta Cassiopeiae And ?lpha Leonis". The Astrophysical Journal. 732 (2): 68. arXiv:1105.0740. Bibcode:2011ApJ...732...68C. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/732/2/68. S2CID 14330106.
  6. ^ Baron, F.; Monnier, J.; Pedretti, E.; Zhao, M.; Schaefer, G.; Parks, R.; Che, X.; Thureau, N.; ten Brummelaar, T. A.; McAlister, H. A.; Ridgway, S. T.; Farrington, C.; Sturmann, J.; Sturmann, L.; Turner, N. (2012). "Imaging the Algol Triple System in the H Band with the CHARA Interferometer". The Astrophysical Journal. 752 (1): 20. arXiv:1205.0754. Bibcode:2012ApJ...752...20B. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/752/1/20. S2CID 11110989.
  7. ^ a b c Gordon, Kathryn D.; Gies, Douglas R.; Schaefer, Gail H.; Huber, Daniel; Ireland, Michael (7 March 2019). "Angular Sizes, Radii, and Effective Temperatures of B-type Stars from Optical Interferometry with the CHARA Array". The Astrophysical Journal. 873 (1): 91. Bibcode:2019ApJ...873...91G. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ab04b2. eISSN 1538-4357. S2CID 125181833.
  8. ^ Kővári, Zs.; Bartus, J.; Strassmeier, K. G.; Oláh, K.; Weber, M.; Rice, J. B.; Washuettl, A. (2007). "Doppler imaging of stellar surface structure. XXIII. The ellipsoidal K giant binary ζ Andromedae". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 463 (3): 1071. arXiv:1301.0445. Bibcode:2007A&A...463.1071K. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20065982.
  9. ^ Roettenbacher, R.M.; Monnier, J.D.; Korhonen, H.; Aarnio, A.N.; Baron, F.; Che, X.; Harmon, R.O.; Kővári, Zs.; Kraus, S.; Schaefer, G.H.; Torres, G.; Zhao, M.; Ten Brummelaar, T.A.; Sturmann, J.; Sturmann, L. (2016). "No Sun-like dynamo on the active star ζ Andromedae from starspot asymmetry". Nature. 533 (7602): 217–220. arXiv:1709.10107. Bibcode:2016Natur.533..217R. doi:10.1038/nature17444. PMID 27144357. S2CID 4466687.
  10. ^ "The Biggest Star in the Sky". ESO. March 11, 1997. Retrieved 2010-06-26.
  11. ^ "Hubble Separates Stars in the Mira Binary System". HubbleSite. 6 August 1997. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  12. ^ "Hundred metre virtual telescope captures unique detailed colour image". European Southern Observatory. 18 February 2009. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  13. ^ J.-B. Le Bouquin, S. Lacour, S. Renard, E. Thiébaut, A. Merand, T. Verhoelst, Pre-maximum spectro-imaging of the Mira star T Leporis with AMBER/VLTI, Astronomy and Astrophysics Volume 496, Number 1, March II 2009, L1–L4.
  14. ^ "Giant Bubbles on Red Giant Star's Surface". European Southern Observatory. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  15. ^ "Astronomers Capture Best-Ever Image of Alien Star". Scientific American. 24 August 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  16. ^ M. Zhao; et al. (2008). "First Resolved Images Of The Eclipsing And Interacting Binary Beta Lyrae". The Astrophysical Journal. 684 (2): L95–L98. arXiv:0808.0932. Bibcode:2008ApJ...684L..95Z. doi:10.1086/592146. S2CID 17510817.
  17. ^ "The orbit of Theta1 Orionis C". European Southern Observatory. 18 February 2009. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  18. ^ "First Light For Future Black Hole Probe". European Southern Observatory. 13 January 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  19. ^ B. Kloppenborg; et al. (2010). "Infrared images of the transiting disk in the Epsilon Aurigae system". Nature. 464 (7290): 370–2. arXiv:1004.2464. Bibcode:2010Natur.464..870K. doi:10.1038/nature08968. PMID 20376144. S2CID 18866716.
  20. ^ Anugu, Narsireddy; Baron, Fabien; Gies, Douglas R.; Lanthermann, Cyprien; Schaefer, Gail H.; Shepard, Katherine A.; ten Brummelaar, Theo; Monnier, John D.; Kraus, Stefan; Le Bouquin, Jean-Baptiste; Davies, Claire L.; Ennis, Jacob; Gardner, Tyler; Labdon, Aaron; Roettenbacher, Rachael M.; Setterholm, Benjamin R.; Vollmann, Wolfgang; Sigismondi, Constantino (July 2023). "The Great Dimming of the hypergiant star RW Cephei: CHARA Array images and spectral analysis". The Astronomical Journal. 166 (2): 78. arXiv:2307.04926. Bibcode:2023AJ....166...78A. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ace59d. S2CID 259766495.
  21. ^ Wittkowski, M; Abellan, F. J; Arroyo-Torres, B; Chiavassa, A; Guirado, J. C; Marcaide, J. M; Alberdi, A; De Wit, W. J; Hofmann, K.-H; Meilland, A; Millour, F; Mohamed, S; Sanchez-Bermudez, J (28 September 2017). "Multi-epoch VLTI-PIONIER imaging of the supergiant V766 Cen: Image of the close companion in front of the primary". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 1709: L1. arXiv:1709.09430. Bibcode:2017A&A...606L...1W. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201731569. S2CID 54740936.
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